Busway hanger



F. C. JOHNSTON ET AL BUSWAY HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS FRANK C.JouNsToN, PAUL KRAuss BY C ATTORNEY May 15, 1962 Filed May 26, 1958 May15, 1962 F. c. JOHNSTON ET AL 3,034,753

BUSWAY HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26, 1958 INVENTORS FRANK C.JOHNSTON, PAUL KRAL/ss ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,034,753 BUSWAYHANGER Frank C. Johnston, West Hartford, Conn., and Paul Krauss,Burlington, Vt., assignors. to General Electric Company, a corporationof New York Filed May 26, 1958, Ser. No. 737,555 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-59)Our invention relates particularly to hangers for supporting a bus bartype electrical distribution system or busway.

Important and often controlling factors in the choice of electric power-busways are the relative ease and economy` of installation thereof.Prior art busway hangers have often been a deterent to the use ofbusways because they required special tools for installation, auxiliaryhardware to hold the busway, and could not be easily adjusted.

It is an object of the invention to provide a busway hanger which can beeasily installed on a busway at any point on the busway length withoutthe requirement of special tools or ttings.

It is another object of the invention to provide a busway hanger whichis easily adjustable in relation to the supporting structure for thehanger thereby permitting easy leveling ofthe busway.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a busway hanger whichcan be easily and economically adjusted to accommodate various widths ofbusway and which can be utilized for edgewise mounting, llatwisemounting, and vertical mounting of the busway.

In one embodiment of the invention a busway hanger is provided having apair of supporting legs extending in generally parallel opposed relationand resiliently movable relative to each other, each of said legs havinga retaining abutment thereon and having outer end portions thereofinclined at an angle to each other to provide opposed cam surfaces forengaging portions of the busway housing so as to displace the supportinglegs relative to each other to cause engagement of the retainingabutments with the busway by a snap-action, and mounting means forattaching the hanger to the supporting structure.

The features of novelty which characterize this invention will bepointed out with particularity in the claim annexed to and forming apart of this' specification.

The construction and operation of the invention in one particularembodiment, however, will be clearly understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a busway assembly held in positiony by ahanger made in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the busway hanger of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the cross member utilized in thehanger of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the bus duct hanger of FIGURE used tosupport a horizontal run of busway, with the position of a bus ductindicated in dotted lines;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of the hanger of FIG- URE 5 used to supporta vertical run of busway, with the bus duct being indicated in dottedlines.

In FIGURE 1, the invention is shown as embodied in a hanger 10 used tosupport a section of busway comprising conductors 2 mounted ininsulating material 3 between opposing side wall members 4 and 5. Edge3,034,753' Patented May 15, 1962 flanges 6 and 7 are formed by rivetingor otherwise joining housing side members 4 and 5 at points 8 and 9along the length of busway 1. The construction of busway 1 is intendedto be illustrative of the class of structurer that can be utilized withthe hanger of this invention and is more fully disclosed in co-'pendingapplication Serial No. 737,954 assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 2, the hanger shown generally at 10 has amounting portion 11 with two supporting legs 12 and 13 extendingtherefrom in generally parallel opposed relation. The legs 12 and 13have inwardly defor-med portions forming coplanar retaining abut-ments14 and 15 respectively and terminating in outwardly llared opposed camsurfaces 16 and 17 respectively. An aperture in the mounting portion `11is used to trap threaded fastener 18. Threaded fastener 18 includes ahexagonal nut portion 19 which is xedly attached to a reduced portion ofthe member 20 so that the enlarged portions of members 19 and 20 are onopposite sidesv of the mounting portion 11 and the fastener is thereforerotatably trapped on the mounting portion 11. Threaded mounting stud 21is engaged by threads in member 20.

Hanger 10 is preferably constructed so that mounting portion 11 andsupporting legs 12 and 13 are formed from a single strip of springsteel. With such a construction, hanger 10 can be snapped intosupporting engagement with ange 6 of busway 1 by forcing hanger 10downward so that opposed cam surfaces 16 and 17 displace supporting legs12 and 13 relative to each other thereby enabling retaining abutments 14and 15 to pass over flange 6 and into Supporting engagement with thebusway housing. With threaded stud 21 aiiixed to a beam of a building orother supporting structure, the position of the busway 1 relative to thesupporting structure can be adjusted by rotating the captive fastener18. This adjustment enables the busway run to be leveled after it hasbeen hung.

To provide additional security for the mounting structure, bolt 22 ispassed through apertures in supporting legs 12 and 13 and nut 23 istightened thereon after hanger 10 has been snapped in place, therebyproviding a positive locking action between hanger 10 and busway 1. Anon-circular aperture 24 is provided in leg 13 to receive acorrespondingly shaped portion of bolt 22 to prevent bolt 22 fromturning. An enlarged aperture 25 in leg 12 allows alignment freedom forbolt 22 and is covered by the washer 26.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, a hanger assembly isprovided for supporting a larger bus duct having wall members 4 and 5separated by a spacer 27, providing two longitudinal flanges 28 and 29.The support members 30 and 31 are identical with the support memberdescribed for hanger 10 except that mounting portions 11 do not containthe trapped fastener 18. Instead, mounting portions 11 are fastened tothe cross member 32 by bolts 33 and 34. As shown in FIGURE 4, crossmember 32 is a rigid tubular member having slots 35 and 36 formedtherein to accept the bolts 33 and 34. The bolts 33 are slidable inslots 35 and 36 to permit the spacing between the support members 30 and31 to be adjusted. A threaded fastener 37, similar in construction tothe threaded fastener 18 shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, is rotatably trappedin an aperture formed in the top of support member 32.

The installation of the hanger shown in FIGURE 3 is the same as thatdescribed for the hanger of FIGURE l in that the support members 30 and31 are snapped over the anges 28 and 29 and the busway may be leveled byrotating the captive fastener 37. Positive locking is provided by thebolts 38 and 39 in the same manner as that provided by bolt 22. Thebolts 53 and 34, in cooperation with slots 35 and 36, permit the spacingof support members 30 and 31 to be varied thereby accommodating avariety of sizes of busway in which the spacing between flanges 28 and29 may vary,

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG- URES 5, 6, and 7,resilient supporting'legs 40 and 41 are joined to rigid mounting portion42 by the rivets l43:. Each supporting leg is made of spring steel, andhas an inwardly deformed portion forming retaining abutments 44 and 45.The end portions of the legs 40 and 41 are flared outwardly to form theopposed cam surfaces 46 and 47. Mounting portion 42 has a centralaperture in which a threaded fastener 48 is trapped. This threadedfastener can be identical with that disclosed for the hanger of FIGURE 1and is dimensioncd to accept the threaded mounting stud 49.

As shown in FIGURE 6, abutments 44 and 45 are notched out to form theprojecting tabs 50 and 51. The hanger described in FIGURE 6 can besnapped over side flanges 52 and 53 of busway 54 (shown in dotted line)in the same manner as the hanger disclosed in FIGURE 1. That is, theopposed cam surfaces 46 and 47 engage anges 52 and 53 when the clip ispushed down relative to busway 54 thereby forcing supporting legs 40 and41 in an outward direction enabling retaining abutments 44 and 45 toengage flanges 52 and 53. Tabs 50 and 51 restrain outward lateralmovement of supporting legs 40 and 41 relative to flanges 52 and 53after the legs 40 and 41 have been snapped in place. Additional positivelocking of the hanger relative to the busway is provided by bolts 55which engage in threaded openings 56 and 57 in mounting portion 42. Whenthreaded fasteners 55 are advanced into engagement with upper surface 58of busway 54, the hanger assembly is securely locked against movementrelative to the busway 54.

The locking bolts 55 may be omitted if desired since the locking tabs 50and 51 provide a high degree of security to the holding action of thehanger when the busway is in a horizontal position. t

Removal of the busway from the hanger is also easily accomplished. Toaccomplish this, it is merely necessary to loosen the bolts 55 anddeflect supporting legs 40 and '41 relative to ilanges 52 and 53 so asto disengage abutments 44 and 45, enabling the busway to be withdrawnfrom the hanger. f course, if threaded fasteners 55 are not utilized toprovide positive locking, supporting legs 40 and 41 can be at oncedisplaced relative to each other and to the busway.

The hanger disclosed in FIGURES and 6 can be utilized to provide supportand spacing for a vertical run of busway 54 relative to a supportingwall 67, as is shown in FIGURE 7. Hanger 60 is installed in the samemanner as described in connection with FIGURE 6.

Threaded members 61 and 62 are inserted through appropriate apertures 63and 64 in side flanges 52 and 53 of busway 54 and pass through slottedopenings' 65 and 66 (see FIGURE 5) in support member 42. By providingslots and 66 rather than simple apertures, the position of Supportmember 42 can be adjusted relative to apertures 64 and 63 in the angesof the busway. If lag bolts are used as threaded fasteners `62 and 61,the busway can be directly fastened to the supporting wall and iseffectively spaced therefrom by hanger 60.

It will be seen that we have provided a simple and effective buswayhanger which can be easily snapped into supporting relationship with abusway, which provides easy leveling of the busway after installation,which can be utilized for edgewise, flatwise, or vertical mounting,which is economical to manufacture and install, and which requires nospecial tools for installation `or loose parts during shipment. Althoughthe invention has been described only as incorporated in specificembodiments, it will be apparent that many modifications thereof mayreadily tbe made. It is to be understood therefore that We intend, bythe appended claim, to cover all such modifications as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

What We claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A busway hanger comprising an elongated rigid transverse supportingmember, -a pair of resilient strips each `'attached to a separate end ofsaid supporting member and extending in a common direction, saidresilient strips having portions adjacent their outer ends bent inwardlytoward each other to provide retaining ledges, said inwardly bentportions lying in parallel planes and being spaced transversely of saidstrips to define `a passage therebetween, each of said inwardly bentportions having a return bent extension to provide a pair of camsurfaces, said inwardly bent portions each having a retaining lug struckoutwardly therefrom in a direction toward the other end of the strip, apair of clamping bolts threadedly engaged in said transverse memberextending toward ,said inwardly bent portions to clamp a retained memberthereagainst, yand a threaded fastener rotatably carried by saidtransverse member intermediate said clamping bolts for adjustablyattaching said hanger to `a threaded stud.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,185,802 Russell Nov. 26, 19198 1,746,962 Perry Feb. `11, 19302,571,832 Chapin Oct. 16, 1951 2,662,745 Jorn Dec. l5, 1953 2,693,385Cavalli NOV. 2, 4 2,734,126 Kruger Feb. 7, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 998,270France Sept. 19, 1951

